Moments in Time
by Hikako
Summary: A short little one shot that could be more or stay a one shot depending on my inspiration. Probably won't be romantic but it will focus on Adrian and Ben. Behold the product of writing in the early morning hours hopped up on Mountain Dew!
1. Chapter 1

Moments in Time

By Hikako

_I'm too young to be a father._

The thought shot through Ben's head like lightning before he even realized what had happened. Immediately following it came _What?_ Hadn't he, just the day before, proclaimed that John should've been his son and over the last year or so been completely willing to marry Amy and raise John as his own? Yet when confronted with the daunting task of actually devoting one's whole life to a child his first thought was _I'm too young_? What had changed?

A soft sniffle from the girl standing behind him brought Ben's mind to the present, and he stared down at his father and Betty happily dancing in a small sea of their friends and extended families. In the glass of the window was the faintest reflection: Adrian was little more than a blur but Ben knew she was crying he could hear the soft sobs in the dead quiet of the room. _Oh, yeah_, thought Ben, _that's what had changed_. Adrian was pregnant with his baby, not Amy.

Though she hadn't said anything when she left the bathroom, the empty silence that filled the air so thick you could cut it with a knife said it all. The test was positive, she was pregnant. The ball was in his court now: what would he say to her, what _could_ he say to her?

"Hey, sorry you got knocked up, but you seduced me!"

Try as he might Ben knew that wasn't true, sure Adrian came on to him but he allowed her to succeed. She was a teenage girl with a great figure, not a femme fatale capable of seducing anyone against their will. It wasn't like he was innocent in all of this either, he knew what would happen and it had been in the forefront of his mind the entire time. He didn't love Adrian; he was just having sex with her to get back at Ricky and Amy.

But that wasn't entirely true either, yes at one point it was revenge in the form of sex but then the rest of the world (Ricky and Amy kissing, wanting to be a carefree sixteen-year-old) went away. For a moment, in the backseat of that car when Ben looked into her toffee colored eyes, Adrian and Ben were the only things that existed in the whole world. Thinking back on it, Ben couldn't find fault with Ricky's attraction to sex, who wouldn't want to experience a moment like that more?

"I'll support whatever decision you make."

Christ did that sound like he was passing the buck! It was asinine even to think that, he had to be the one to step up here, to be the man. Adrian would have to make up her mind and make her own decision, but before that Ben had to make his decision. There was always denial, everyone knew what kind of relationship Adrian and Ricky had, who was to say if it really was his kid. Anger was a reliable fallback: she was one who was older and so experienced, she should've known better. There was resignation: nothing we can do about it now, so let's move on from here. Last but not least, and ultimately the only choice Benjamin Boykewich would allow himself to make, was acceptance.

"I'm here for you, no matter what."

Ben turned around as he was about to stay it and stopped: the sight of Adrian's face felt like a crushing weight was placed on his shoulders. Here he had spent all this time feeling sorry for himself and thinking of all the ways he could possibly get out of it, while she just stood there waiting. She was alone and was sure he was going to reject her and the baby out of hand. After all, boys like Ben didn't have bastard children with girls like Adrian.

Her posture was straight, she held herself up tall and proud, with her chin high in defiance of his denial. No tears streaked down her cheeks, smearing her makeup, or snot running out of her nose to show she had been crying at all. It was her eyes that cut right to Ben's heart, windows into her soul that showed her true vulnerability. She was scared of being alone, and in a heartbeat Ben knew he couldn't let her be alone, not after what was happening to them. They were in this together, just like when they had been in the backseat together, and it was time to admit that. To both himself and to Adrian.

He moved slowly, like he approaching a scared animal or something, his eyes never leaving hers. "Hey," he said softly as he reached out and took her hand, "I'm here for you."

TBC… maybe


	2. Chapter 2

The Crib

When Adrian was five she got a terrible case of influenza, for close to two weeks her mother Cindy had confined Adrian to her bed and waited on the little girl hand and foot. Every meal, and more than a few snacks, were all served to the five-year-old like she was a VIP at an exclusive spa. Cindy even moved their television into Adrian's room and let the little girl watch whatever cartoons she wanted. The best part, from Adrian's perspective, was when she closed her eyes the cramped apartment disappeared to be replaced by a beautiful castle, because in little Adrian Lee's mind she felt was a princess.

Now three months pregnant and despite suffering terrible nausea and all-day sickness, Adrian couldn't help but close her eyes and feel like a princess again. Snuggled up under an enormous quilt on the living room couch and nursing a cup of hot tea Adrian looked down at the young man who was quickly and willingly turning into her personal servant. Smiling Adrian couldn't help the giddiness as she watched the crease in Ben's forehead get deeper.

"Okay," Ben said, both to himself and Adrian, "I think I understand where I went wrong with this." Adrian snorted loudly and shook her head. "You didn't buy a crib that came pre-assembled?" she asked, her tone dripping with sarcasm. Ben frowned again as he brought two long pieces of wood together at an odd angle and attempted to match them with the appropriate nut and bolt. "Ha!" The Sausage Prince said as he held the assembled corner proudly in the air. "Who needs instructions?"

Adrian's peals of laughter filled the room as she looked out across the scattered thousand pieces that _still_ needed to be assembled as well, after nearly two hours. When Ben had arrived that blustery Saturday morning with the large box of parts he proudly proclaimed that in less than 30 minutes (according to the advertisement on the side of the box) Adrian would have herself a brand new crib for their baby. Now, hours later and with no new crib, Adrian thought that the most endearing thing about the whole endeavor was how seriously Ben was taking the whole thing. Even now, with her practically laughing in his face, Ben looked on with pride at the progress he had accomplished. Until he realized that there weren't any 45 degree angles in the design of the crib in the picture on the box.

Dejected Ben sighed and said, "Do you see the manual anywhere."

* * *

"What did I tell you?" Ben asked as he put his fists on his hips in a Superman pose. "A brand new crib!" The excitement and pride in his voice was unmistakable and so easily punctured by Adrian's quick comment. "And to think it only took seven hours and three men to do it!"

"Hey!" George said over his shoulder from where he stood with Ben and Ruben, all of whom had mixtures of pride and embarrassment on their faces. Cindy, Anne, Amy, Ashley, and Adrian stood in the doorway of the living room and simultaneously rolled their eyes.

Not content to leave Ben with the slightest trace of an inflated ego, Adrian walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. "All the same, though, a good job." Pausing for a beat to maximize the effect. "But how do you plan to get it through the nursery's doorway?"

Loud feminine laughter filled the house, accompanied by grumbling masculine swearing.


	3. Chapter 3

Moments in Time

By Hikako

The only sounds that can be heard in the car are the whooshing of air along the undercarriage or the tires when they go over a bump. When the car is stopped the silence is even more pervasive and the rushing of furious air out of flared nostrils of two different people takes center stage.

Adrian isn't stupid, she knows Ben's angry, she knows what he's angry about, and more importantly she doesn't care! He acts like he has a right to be angry! She's the one with the right to be angry since she's the one who was humiliated by his attitude and actions. There's no way she can ever go back there again, not after the way he acted.

Ben isn't stupid either, he knows Adrian's mad at him, but he doesn't care! Amy never acted that way, ever, and he can't believe that Adrian did either. She probably feels humiliated but he felt embarassed first so therefore he was wronged first and she's the one who has to apologize to him! And if she feels like she can't ever go back there again… well, great!

The minutes pass and the embarassment ebbs and the anger cools but neither one of them is going to admit it, apologize, or say anything at all. At one stop sign Ben looks out his window and sees a young couple walking down the street, hand in hand, and he sighs. A few blocks later Adrian sees a mother with a stroller sitting at a bus stop, and her eyes drift over to Ben for a few seconds.

The last leg of the car ride both of them feel ridiculous, Ben for how he acted and Adrian's admits to herself that she understands why Ben did it. Now their embarassment has less to do with the scene they just left and more with how childish the other must think their being. Adrian's house looms ahead and they shift nervously in their seats wondering if they should say good-bye and who should go first. Silence, as Adrian prepares to get out, is all they say, but at the last minute Ben reaches out and grabs Adrian wrist softly, preventing her from getting out of the car.

"I meant what I said," he said calmly, looking at the floor, "I don't want him touching you." He's so earnest, Adrian can't fight the elation and giddiness she feels swelling inside her and she is unable to keep the grin off her face. She leans over and kisses him, innocently, on the cheek and as she pulls back he turns his head and looks into her laughing toffee-colored eyes.

With a satisfied smirk on her face she wipes her lip gloss off his cheek before turning around and getting out of the car.


End file.
